Manual trans?

pods8

pods8

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Dec 17, 2008
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Thornton, CO
For any of you who have or are currently running manual transmissions and get your rig onto the trails some what is your feeling on the set up? I like the idea of a manual for longer highway hauls and such. Traffic isn't fun with a manual but livable. Then there is off road where I've only had auto's before and it seems like the slip in the torque converter can be nice to slowly crawl on things and such a bit more which would take some definite clutch finesse in a manual. Could I do it sure, I'm just wondering if it wears on you so to speak and you'd rather an auto?

One scenario that comes to mind (not that I'll have my next rig in this type of situation) is I've had to come down some steep boulder strewn trails before which were basically braking down the hill till the tires/bumper were up against the next rock, and then a bit of gas to get up/on. Auto you could leave in gear and just use your brakes. In this case if was moving too slow for a manual to be in gear so you'd have to throw it in neutral or hold the clutch while working the brake and getting thrown around. Then pop it in gear and finesse the clutch to drive up a 2' rock, etc. Are first gear in most full size rigs low enough that this would be a none issue (The manual vehicles I've had before were cars)?
 
Transmissions

They both have their advantages, and disadvantages.I have an auto in my truck, I tow a lot and the original trans. lasted 33k mi. This was due to that torque converter silp you refered to, built into all autos. so you have that nice smooth shift that I guess everybody expects. The BD trans. that I have now shifts hard, not mushy, some people might not like it that way, but I do because I know that the converter isn't slipping and creating a lot of heat, and heat is what causes pre mature trans. faliure, also I have an exhaust brake to help me control the weight of the truck and whatever I'm towing, off road it's fine. I suggest you go to a dealer and try both, their starving to death they would love you to come and test drive anything they have.
 
They both have their advantages, and disadvantages.I have an auto in my truck, I tow a lot and the original trans. lasted 33k mi. This was due to that torque converter silp you refered to, built into all autos. so you have that nice smooth shift that I guess everybody expects. The BD trans. that I have now shifts hard, not mushy, some people might not like it that way, but I do because I know that the converter isn't slipping and creating a lot of heat, and heat is what causes pre mature trans. faliure, also I have an exhaust brake to help me control the weight of the truck and whatever I'm towing, off road it's fine. I suggest you go to a dealer and try both, their starving to death they would love you to come and test drive anything they have.

A shift kit in an auto trans should help out the longevity, no?

Planning to do some looking this weekend and seeing how hungry someone is for a sale, esp. at the end of the week/month...
 
The Short Answer Is Yes

I don't know what you mean by "shift kit" but I think you mean to re-valve the valve body, that's going to alter your shift points and remove some of the slip, which will help. Somewhere on line you can see the difference between a stock converter and a billet replacement, you'll see that the stock converter is a pretty cheap stamped piece, that under load has way too much flex. Another big problems with autos is the fact that people don't take care of them, they forget to have them flushed once in a while, really important, and people just don't do it. If you go for an auto.,the first thing I would do is find the best trans. cooler I could find, that would be my first mod. on my new truck.
 
What I've heard...

...is this:
- Up the hill? Auto is easier
- Down the hill? Manual is easier

I find this generally true.
 
Shift kit

Not sure what the actual internals look like but yeah from my neck of the woods a "shift kit" gets installed in your trans and alters the shift points for harder/more solid shifting, the two times I hear them come up is for towing and racing...

Well we'll see after the weekend if I end up with something and what, we can concoct alterations form there if I get an auto. :D If I get a manual I'll just worry about replacing the clutch as I teach the little lady to drive a stick. :eek:
 
I went with the auto this go round, thinking because I also use the truck to commute to work, the auto would be lot nicer (and it is when you're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic) for around town, which unfortunately is where most of my driving occurs.

Now I wish I'd gone with the manual.

My dodge transmission can be made extremely reliable, quite easily. Just requires the infusion of large amounts of cash I don't have. Unfortunately it tends to overheat on slow uphill crawls, which I tend to do quite a bit of. Going up to the charcoal kilns in DV I was starting to get very nervous watching the temps climb. If I was towing anything heavier than my Jeep, this tranny would never last.
 
Craig

This is exactly what I was talking about, you know your trans. got hot, did you check the color of the fluid, is it dark now, smell it, does it smell burnt? do your self and your tranny a favor, get a bigger cap. cooler, pref. one with a fan, and a deeper pan to increase your fluid cap. those two mods. will help to save your trans. and not cost a ton of dough. I would bet if we had a bunch of these rigs together, and everybody pulled their stick out of their trans. we would find some really burnt up fluid, I know that for sure.
 
I went with the auto this go round, thinking because I also use the truck to commute to work, the auto would be lot nicer (and it is when you're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic) for around town, which unfortunately is where most of my driving occurs.

Now I wish I'd gone with the manual.

My dodge transmission can be made extremely reliable, quite easily. Just requires the infusion of large amounts of cash I don't have. Unfortunately it tends to overheat on slow uphill crawls, which I tend to do quite a bit of. Going up to the charcoal kilns in DV I was starting to get very nervous watching the temps climb. If I was towing anything heavier than my Jeep, this tranny would never last.

Good to know. I'd might check out two 2500's w/ an auto. I'm also going to check out a 1500 w/ manual. I'll be sure to pull the sticks on those two trucks...
 
Manual

If you are going manual, think hard about the 3/4 ton. The trannys have lower gears. Makes off road easier.
 
manual trans

Another benefit is you can kick start a manual. My ford ranger is a 5 speed manual and low gear is way too high. I get to use 4wheel low a lot. I bought a manual to tow then I find out I could have towed an automatic with a little part from ford. Oh well. Most of the heavy duty off road crowd run autos, at least in my last 4 wheel club. They were mostly converted toyota landcruisers with v-8s and autos.
 
I have a manual in my Dodge. Scott is right about the 3/4 ton and up for the manuals. Most of the 1500s have more of a car transmission both in strength and gearing. First gear is generally around 3.x to 1 vs. the 1st gear in 3/4 and 1 tons being around 6.x to 1. My crawl ratio in the Dodge is almost identical to the crawl ratio in my Jeep with a 4:1 transfer case because of the granny low 1st gear in the Dodge.

As to manual vs. auto. For offroad unless you go with DEEP gears, stick w/ the auto. I have seen way too many people burning their clutches or flying backwards down a hill because they don't have the proper gearing in their manual transmissions.

Lostnot commented on the kickstarting w/ a manual. Know that on a newer vehicle w/ the clutch start interlock, you will have to install a switch to override. Some Toyotas did come w/ this feature from the factory, but I'm not sure if they still do that or not. The factory interlock keeps you from starting the vehicle unless the clutch is disengaged.

Good luck looking... what vehicles are you looking at? The recommendation of manual vs. auto can be dependent on vehicle too. Some of the options have proven to be somewhat unreliable vs. others.
 
Good luck looking... what vehicles are you looking at? The recommendation of manual vs. auto can be dependent on vehicle too. Some of the options have proven to be somewhat unreliable vs. others.

Dodge fullsize is my target right now, 03' and up with 05/06 being the main focus. There are a couple 2500's that I'm going to check out and see how much wiggle room there is to get in my price range otherwise I'll likely snag a 1500. My fall back in all this is there is a 1500 with a manual and low miles a what I'd consider a good price so I'll see what I can do on the 2500's first.

Probably will go looking today when the little lady gets up and about.
 
My fall back in all this is there is a 1500 with a manual and low miles a what I'd consider a good price so I'll see what I can do on the 2500's first.

Here is my 0.02 on Dodge 1500s. I had a 2001 w/ manual. Great truck, BUT the drive train is not as heavy duty as I would have liked: the rear end went out at 130k! This was a freeway commuter, so the rear-end should have lasted quite awhile. The AT Dodge trucks had a tougher rear end. Further, the truck had the WORST towing capacity!

When the rear end started to go, I upgraded to my F350. Granted it was costly, BUT looking at cost over time, I think it's break even.

If you look patiently, you might find a nice set up. I recently saw a 2007 F350 manual diesel 17k miles for $21,000!
 
Here is my 0.02 on Dodge 1500s. I had a 2001 w/ manual. Great truck, BUT the drive train is not as heavy duty as I would have liked: the rear end went out at 130k! This was a freeway commuter, so the rear-end should have lasted quite awhile. The AT Dodge trucks had a tougher rear end. Further, the truck had the WORST towing capacity!

When the rear end started to go, I upgraded to my F350. Granted it was costly, BUT looking at cost over time, I think it's break even.

If you look patiently, you might find a nice set up. I recently saw a 2007 F350 manual diesel 17k miles for $21,000!

The one I am considering checking out is an 06' don't know if they worked any of those bugs out by then...

Was that 07 a 4x4? I've been watching off and on for a month or two and haven't seen something quite that cheap (year/millage) assuming it was 4x4.
 
Was that 07 a 4x4? I've been watching off and on for a month or two and haven't seen something quite that cheap (year/millage) assuming it was 4x4.

yes, it was.
 
Well did alot of looking yesterday, either didn't like what I was looking at (condition/price) or didn't like the folks trying to sell me stuff. :rolleyes: Did find a nice 05' CTD with 35k on the clock but it was a bit over what I felt like taking on for a payment so we headed home for the evening.

In a total 180 as I was doing some more looking online I found a private party selling an 03' F150 4x4 5.4L 73K for a seemingly affordable price. I'm going to see about looking at that this afternoon before the game. Assuming its in good shape I might snag that as its much more within my budget and doesn't seem as much of a strain on a shorter notice. Assuming that is what happens I'll just do my research in the meantime and possibly pursue a different truck in a few more years (who know maybe they will have gotten off their rear and put a diesel in the 1/2ton again :thumb:).

Disclaimer: I reserve the right to repeatedly flip flop my decision until a truck is parked in my driveway.:D
 
Just an FYI if anyone cares I locked in on a 03' Dodge 1500 quad 4x4 with 36k on the clock last night. Getting the paper work rolling today. I'll get pictures and a "rig" thread hopefully started after the weekend. ;)
 
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